Trust
by Believenfairies
Summary: The story picks up exactly where the last one left off... the kiss we'd all been waiting for. Our test subjects have finally escaped the Edison Group and are trying to answer the age old question, what next? Rated T for kissing.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay so this story is going to take place immediately after The Reckoning. And when I say immediately I mean that the first couple of lines that you see belong to Kelley Armstrong. They are the segue into my continuation of the story. They only reason that I'm even putting them in there is just in case some of you forgot exactly how the story ended. However I am changing the story a bit, I might have to get rid of Lauren somehow. Not kill her but send her somewhere, I don't know yet. I'm not a big fan of hers.

Disclaimer: Not only do these characters belong to Kelley Armstrong my second favorite author in the whole wide world, but so do these first few lines in italics. I just want the readers to remember Chloe's thoughts and feelings before I begin my story. I'm not making a profit from this story.

_It was the perfect moment, one where nothing else mattered. All I could feel was him. All I could taste was his kiss. All I could hear was the pounding of his hear. All I could think about was him, and how much I wanted this, and how incredibly lucky I was to get it, and how tight I was going to hold onto it._

_ This was what I wanted. This guy. This life. This _me. _I was never getting my old life back, and I didn't care. I was happy. I was safe. I was right where I wanted to be. _(These lines belong to Kelley Armstrong, The Reckoning, Pg. 390-391).

Trust

Chapter 1

Derek and I were finally forced to break apart, oxygen had become a necessity. He rested his head against mine and he both just stood there, gazing into each other eyes like we'd just fallen out of some cheesy romance novel. I couldn't stop the smile that attacked my face at the thought.

"What," Derek smirked.

"Nothing," I lied, but I knew there was no way he'd be as amused by my visual image as I was. "I guess I just never thought this would happen with all of the conveniently placed interruptions."

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. His hands around my waist pulled me closer to him. "Yeah well, I don't care what any of them have to say, now that I've got you I'm not letting go."

Our lips met again and I was sliding my fingers into Derek's hair, getting ready to take a bold step and deepen our kiss when Derek pulled away groaning in frustration laying his head on top of mine.

"What's-, " I didn't even get a change to finish the sentence before I got my answer.

"Chloe, are you out here? It's getting dark; don't you think that you and Derek should come back now?" Aunt Lauren's voice called.

"We just escaped captivity and leveled an entire secret lab, what more trouble does she think we'll get into," Derek growled into my hair.

"A werewolf and a necromancer," I laughed, "no trouble at all. Come on," I took both of his hands and pulled him back toward to hotel.

Derek growled a bit but followed me none the less. I dropped his hands so I could turn around and actually _see_ where I was going. As soon as I let go Derek's hands found my shoulders. He fell into step quickly behind me. I could tell that when we got to our perspective rooms separating might be a bit difficult.

We met Aunt Lauren at the head of the path we had taken behind the hotel. I expected Derek to pull away, but his hands remained firmly planted, I chalked it up to wolves and territory. Derek and I stood facing Aunt Lauren, I saw her eyes move to his hands on my shoulders and waited for her to say something, I knew how she felt about werewolves, but I had hoped that seeing him in action the other day in the lab, seeing how he protected me when the ceiling collapsed has changed her mind. We waited. Aunt Lauren gave a slight nod and turned to walk back toward the hotel. I looked up at Derek, I was thoroughly confused, but he just smirked and pushed me toward the hotel.

"Hey," I giggled slapping his arm, "no pushing."

"Oh yeah," he smirked, "what are you going to do about it."

We bantered like that all the way back to the rooms. We stopped in front of my room, and I turned into Derek's arms to face him. I stared up into his emerald green eyes. It didn't seem legal to have eyes that beautiful. As I continued to stare I saw them take on a smoky haze, he leaned down to rest his head on mine, I knew he had to be uncomfortable in that position, but he never complained.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

He didn't need to explain. We'd hardly slept since we escaped from the lab, not only were we uncomfortably jammed into a van, but we were all plagued with our own thoughts and fears. This was the first time any of us would attempt a good night sleep.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It would be a different story if I was trying to sleep by myself but Tori and Aunt Lauren will be here, so I think I'll be okay."

We both knew I was lying but Derek just pressed a short kiss to my lips. The kiss was quick but I still felt like my legs would turn to jell-o. We reluctantly pulled apart again and I sipped the key card into the door and went inside.

Tori was already in one of the beds facing the wall, I didn't think she was asleep but I was pretty sure she didn't want to talk either. Aunt Lauren was laying out the cot we'd had brought in for me. She gave me a quick smile before climbing into her own bed. I flipped off the light on the wall next to my cot before I took a deep breath and climbed in.

I closed my mind a tried my hardest to clear my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

_ I could feel my body shaking, ever muscle in my body clench. I looked into Mrs. Enright's eyes and saw nothing but deep seeded hatred; I'd never looked into the eyes of someone who wanted nothing more than to end my life. "Shoot him," I heard my voice say._

_ BANG!_

"NO!" I flew up from my cot hyperventilating, tears running down my face, hair and clothes plastered to my body with sweat.

"Chloe, Chloe, what's wrong? Chloe, are you alright, talk to me, is it a ghost, what do you see?" Aunt Lauren was speaking; both she and Tori were sitting on the cot staring at me. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't alright, that I was awful, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs to say anything.

I flinched when I heard banging at the door. "Chloe," It was Derek. "Chloe open this door right now before I break it down." Tori rolled her eyes as she stood up to open the door. Before Tori had time to step away Derek was barreling past her to kneel at my cot.

"Chloe," he didn't ask any ridiculous questions or make any demands. He just said my name. The cot was pushed flush against a wall that I was currently leaning against fighting to let what little air I could into my lungs. Derek sat up on the cot and leaned my back against his chest.

He leaned down and whispered soothing words into my ear, "Come on baby, you're gonna have to breath better than that." He put his hand high on my chest, above what small breast I had and just under my neck. "Feel my breath sweetheart, breath with me. Come on, in, out, in, out." In the distance I heard Kit tell Aunt Lauren and Tori that I needed room. I felt them move away from me; shockingly my breathing did slow down a bit. I turned around and threw myself into Derek's arms soaking his shirt with silent tears. He continued to whisper into my ear saying anything and everything he could think of.

When I finally pulled away from him, we were sitting on the ground outside leaning against the wall of the motel. I didn't remember him picking me up and walking out here, but I was sure that he did. Derek rubbed circles on my back waiting for me to tell him about my nightmare. I lay my head back on his should and took a deep breath trying to control the tears that began to well up again.

"I-I-I d-didn't want to. Wh-why couldn't he j-just leave us alone?" Derek's arms tightened around me. "I didn't want to shoot him. I-I-I didn't kn-know wh-what else to do." I pressed my face into his chest. "Why can't they all just leave us alone?"

Derek just held me close. He would never lie to me, even to spare my feelings, so instead of answering my completely irrational question he just held on to me until I fell back to sleep.

A/N: Okay so here it is. The first chapter. Chapter two is done and chapter three is in the works. Something happened and I lost two pages, I was real pissed, so it's going to take me a bit to put it all back together. Anyway, if I get enough reviews I'll post the next chapter in a few days, if you all decide you hate the story I'll sit in my closet and cry my little eyes out. Haha not really, I'll just start working on something else, so review please!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. I got real big laughs from the Lauren comments. I understand that she honestly thought she was doing what was best for Chloe but for some reason I just can't let it all go (even though she did start to change a bit in the end.) If I do decide to send her somewhere it will probably be in chapter 3 or 4.

I got a comment about Derek using words like "babe" and "sweetheart", true it is a bit OOC for him, (thank you for your honesty Lizzie 1994). I think that at the time I just couldn't help myself, it was so cute. I'm going to try to update every week, although I make no promises, my work schedule is very random although I do most of my writing at 2am.

Darker.. asked if it would be a Chloe and Derek fic, to be honest with you guys I'm not sure. There's going to be a lot of Chloe and Derek in the story for sure, but their relationship isn't going to be the focal point of this story (I don't think :/) .

Finally I would like to say the I apologize for my grammatical mistakes. It might surprise some of your to know that not only was I in honors English classes in high school I minored in English in college. My biggest problem however has always been catching my own mistakes, even though I'm pretty gosh darn good at catching others. So this begins my beta search. I've never had one before but I want to bring this story as close to perfection for you guys as possible.

This is the end of the longest Authors Note ever.

Chapter 2

The next morning I woke up on my cot. Aunt Lauren was sitting on her bed writing on one of the tablets that I was sure she found in the motel drawer (probably tucked away with the Bible), and I could hear Tori in the bathroom.

Aunt Lauren looked at me, and I could tell that she was debating how much to ask me about last night. I hoped and prayed that she would leave well enough alone. I was slowly becoming an accomplished liar but I would rather avoid it. She opened her mouth… then closed it again. I felt like we were standing off, preparing for a duel from some old school western movie.

She closed her mouth, then opened it again, "Kit's going to go out and pick us up some supplies, backpacks, clothes, toothbrushes…, I'm making a list, is there something you wanted to add?"

I didn't even realize I had been holding my breath until I let it out. "Um… maybe some more hair die, the black is starting to fade." Aunt Lauren just shook her head and continued to write. I knew I'd gotten off way to easy, we'd have to talk eventually, I was just glad we didn't have to do it now.

"Tell him to get something in the realm of a chocolate brown. I'd really rather _not_ repeat the black die fiasco," Tori said emerging from the bathroom. "I swear it's amazing those boys know how to do anything on their own."

While passing Tori on my way to the bathroom I met her eyes and offered a lopsided smile. She didn't return it, but she did nod her head. I could tell that she wasn't quite 100% yet, it's not every day that a person kills their mother, but she was working on it.

I took one of the mini toothbrushes provided by the motel (A/N Sorry I'm sure Motels don't do that, but I didn't want them walking around with morning breath for the next few hours) and set to work on my teeth. When finished, I ran my fingers through my hair, doing my best to work out the knots; I tilted my head to the side and evaluated my disheveled appearance. For now this was as good as it was going to get.

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked sitting on the bed next to my Aunt, Tori was facing us from hers.

"Now that you guys are awake we're going to go meet the boys and figure out where to go from here I guess."

The three of us filed over to the next room, as Aunt Lauren prepared to knock on the door I could hear Simon rambling to his dad about the comic we were working on about our "adventures". At the rate we were going, the comic would probably never end. As depressing as our current situation was, I could practically hear Simon beaming through the door. He finally had his dad back, and as far as he was concerned, nothing else mattered.

"Kit, we're here," Aunt Lauren announced as she knocked.

Seconds later Derek opened the door, his eyes immediately sought mine, but before he could say anything he was shoved aside by Simon.

"Hey Chloe, I was showing dad the comic we started. He says that we make a pretty good team. I guess now that we're not running from the Edison group anymore we have an ending for the book. We can title the second book Cable Evasion, what do you think? It came to me in a dream last night."

Simon continued to ramble on as we filed into the room, he was so excited to have his dad back that he was practically bouncing off the walls. I tuned him out doing a quick search of the small room for Derek. He was leaning against a wall shaking his head at his brother's crazy antics. I knew Derek was also happy to have his dad back; he was just more subtle about his excitement.

I walked over to him while everyone else seated themselves on various pieces of furniture. His eyes connected with mine as I stood in front of him. I could see the question forming in his eyes. I smiled a little, hopefully looking as comfortable as he made me feel.

"Thanks," I whispered, hoping that the conversation I dimly heard the others having in the background kept their attention from us. "I managed to sleep through the rest of the night."

"I didn't want to leave you, but I figured demanding to stay might push your aunt over the edge."

Derek reached out with his arms and pulled me to him until I was also leaving against the wall, my back flush to his chest. We were about to venture into uncharted territory, the four of us had spent the last two weeks with one thought in mind, evade the Edison Group at all cost. Now that that was done, we didn't know what to do. The fear of the unknown almost outweighed the fear I'd had of the Edison group, I wasn't sure about Derek but at that moment, I needed the physical contact.

"So," Tori started, "If Simon's finally decided to shut up, what's the plan."

Simone gave her a mock glare, but dutifully closed his mouth and turned his attention to his dad.

"First things first," Kit started, "We need to get farther away from the lab. I have some friends in Maine that I've been in contact with, as soon as-,"

"No," Derek cut him off. I stopped breathing for a second. What was Derek doing? All eyes turned to him.

"No what?" Kit asked.

"We can't trust anyone else. I'm not going to purposely to put our lives into danger again. Not after the last time."

The look on Kits face told everyone in the room that he had no idea what Derek was talking about.

I guess they haven't told him about Andrew yet. I didn't realize I'd said that out loud until Derek pushed against my back.

"Oops," I looked up to him, "Sorry, but you were going to have to tell him at some point."

"Tell me what?" Kit asked.

No one said anything. No one wanted to be the one to tell Kit how his friend had betrayed him, "Well I'll tell him," Tori announced, no surprise there.

"Tell me what," Kit demanded again.

"That you suck at picking your friends. Not only did Andrew lie to you in those e-mails and tell you that he didn't know where we were, he was going to turn Derek over to the pack."

"What? No he wouldn't do that. I know he started to get a little… weary of Derek as he got older but he would never-,"

"It's true dad," Simon stepped in. "He had arranged for some werewolves to take Derek. Andrew drugged Derek's soda and was going to have him sent away."

"He turned on Chloe when we confronted him. Derek had to bum rush him and got hit with a spell in the process. The whole situation was a mess, we were safer with the Edison Group than we were with those friends of yours," Tori finished.

"Derek," Kit asked, "what happened with Andrew."

Derek didn't say anything for a while. I could tell he was thinking very hard about the possible outcomes of his response. "It doesn't matter anymore Dad, we took care of it."

I was sure Kit wanted to say more but he chose to continue to explain our plans. "All of that aside, and know that I will get the whole story eventually, our options are kind of limited. You four need to get a hold of your powers and the sooner the better."

"I can control my powers just fine thank you very much," Tori announced.

Simon snorted, "This from the girl who knocked down an entire building."

"It got the job done didn't it?"

"Yeah almost at the expense of our li,-"

"Tori, you're powerful, but you need to learn some control. Simon you need to build your power level and Derek's just now discovering what it's like in wolf form. You all need time and space to work things out."

"What about Chloe," Aunt Lauren spoke up for the first time.

Kit looked at me, I felt Derek tense against me. "I'm going to be honest with you Chloe," Kit started. "I don't know much about Necromancy. I could try to look some people up-,"

"NO!" Derek, Simon, and Tori yelled at the same time. I had to suppress a smile, although my time with Margaret was anything but fun, their reaction certainly was.

"Another story that I'll be hearing the details of sometime soon," Kit murmured. "Well Chloe I guess we can try to do some research and-,"

"Don't worry about it dad. I've got it," Derek spoke up. "I know how Chloe's powers work probably better than she does. The two of us will work things out. Don't worry about it."

"Alright then, it's settled. We're going to Maine, and we'll be very selective about what we tell my contacts. I'm going to run out and pick up a few things for us, backpacks, a few changes of clothes, and then we're going to head out. Does anyone else have anything to say before I go?"

I had been studying my shoes until this point. I looked around the room meeting first Simon's eyes, then Tori's, and then surprisingly I ran across a pair of big, bright, baby blues. Liz was sitting on the dresser Tori was leaning against. My eyes grew, and she gave me two thumbs up.

"I told you I'd be back," she said responding to the shock I'm sure she saw for that split second.

"Alright," Kit stood up. "I should be back in the hour, I want all of you to stay in the motel, don't go any farther than our two rooms." Kit looked directly above my head, I was sure he was staring at Derek. "Be ready to go when I get back."

Aunt Lauren stood up and followed him out, "Kit I have a few more things to add to the list, we need some…" Their voices filtered off as they walked back to the van.

"Are we really going to do this _again? _The last time we trusted someone they lead us back to the enemy," Tori asked jumping up onto the dresser next to Liz.

"Yeah but that was Andrew. This is our dad. He would never do that," Simon threw out angrily.

"Simon," I stepped in, "I don't think Tori was insinuating that your dad would betray us, but the people he was taking us to."

"Yeah but dad wouldn't let anything happen to us. He'd keep us safe, just like he did with me and Derek."

"Yeah, and look where that got you," Tori smirked. "Has he told you where he's been the last month?"

No one said anything.

"I've got an idea." This from Liz, I let the group know. "I think we should go with Simon and Derek's dad. He's right about the control on our powers, but no should ever go anywhere alone and tell these people as little about yourselves as possible. As soon as we start to get suspicious we leave… with or without the adults. You guys are the ones in danger, not them."

I let the group know what Liz had said. I'll have to give it to her; it was a pretty good plan. In all honesty I didn't see any other options.

"So," Derek asked. "What do we think?"

"I say we do it," Tori said.

"Agreed, but I still don't think dad would let anything happen to us," from Simon.

I looked up to Derek, "I want to do it."

"Okay then. We can't fully trust anyone but ourselves, not even Dad and Lauren. They mean well, but they don't know what we do. The second anyone is uncomfortable we're gone," Derek said. "No one's getting captured again. Not if I have anything to say about it."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry I took so long. I was planning on posting this on Monday but... then I didn't. This chapter isn't very long, but if I can get chapter four the way I want it, (It's giving me a lot of problems) then it'll be worth it. Enjoy, and as always review please, I need the encouragement. XOXO

Chapter 3

For the next hour the five of us sat in the room in silence, each of us in our own world. Tori and Liz were writing notes to each other, Simon sat on one of the beds adding to the comic we'd started weeks ago. Derek and I sat side by side at the small table and chairs pushed against the wall in the motel room. Derek hadn't said anything since he swore to protect us, those may not have been his exact words, but that's what he meant. We continued to sit beside each other, Derek stared out the window, hardly blinking, he hardly moved a muscle, he just rubbed his thumb across the top of my hand.

Derek was a werewolf over six feet tall, he could snap the locks on doors, toss men across a room, and lift heavy objects. He was the strongest person I'd even met and could defend himself better than I ever could, but I was worried about him, about his safety. Derek would jump through hoops to protect the people that he cared about, he'd saved my life more than once, but I was worried that one day while protecting someone else, he was going to hurt himself… badly.

I looked up at Derek in time to see him blink rapidly and shake his head slightly.

"What's wrong," I asked squeezing his hand again.

"Dad's back."

"Sweet, I'm going to hop in the shower. Chloe can you put the clothes they got me outside the bathroom door," Tori asked walking out of the room. She didn't wait for an answer; I assumed that was because she wasn't actually asking me a question.

Kit walked into the room, backpacks in hand.

"Alright, everything's already in the there," Kit said as he handed us darkly colored packs. "It should speed up the packing. Chloe," he said while handing me a green and black backpack. "The box is in yours, I hope it's the right color."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, thank you Mr. Bea." I looked at Derek. "I'm going to go; we should be ready in about an hour is that alright?"

I guess I was still use to running everything I did by Derek, asking his dad honestly never crossed my mind.

"Yeah that should be alright. We'll meet you guys in your room," apparently consulting his dad never occurred to Derek either.

I gave his hand one last squeeze before leaving.

Forty-five minutes later I was standing in front of the mirror looking at my new hair. It had been dyed a chocolate brown, Tori had cut my hair so that it hung just past my shoulder and I had a new pair of bangs. I wasn't sure how I felt about them but they definitely changed my look, and to top it all off I had new pair of plastic, square, black rimmed glasses. I hardly recognized myself.

"Quit staring you look great," Tori said from the bed, she was digging though her backpack checking out the new clothes. We each had three pair of jeans, six shirts, a variety of under things and a tooth brush and tooth paste. The thought that Mr. Bea had touched my underwear was a bit unsettling but I was trying to forget about it. I was reaching up to touch my bangs when there was a knock at the door.

"I like it," Liz said appearing from nowhere. "It's a good look for you."

"Nice look Chloe," Simon said dropping onto Aunt Laurens bed. "Much better than the black."

Derek stood behind me. It was dumb but I was a bit afraid of his reaction. He'd seen me at my worst and was still attracted to me, for reasons that I would never understand, but I still wanted to be pretty for him. I met his eyes in the mirror.

"I-I kn-know it looks really d-different, but we thought that w-with the reward it was t-time for another ch-change." Not only was I stuttering but I was rambling as well, kill me now. "I-I know the glasses are going to ta-take some getting used to but-,"

"It's nice," Derek smirked. It was as close to a compliment as I was going to get… and gosh darn it I'd take it.

I smiled and visually relaxed; one hurdle down.

We arranged ourselves in the van and began the trip north. Kit was behind the wheel, with Aunt Lauren next to him, Tori and Simon took the second row, and Derek and settled into the back. Jazz music played silently in the background, that noise only rivaled by the scratching of Simons drawing pencil. I was beginning to doze off when I glanced up and met Aunt Lauren's eyes in the rearview mirror…again. We'd only been traveling for about two hours and this was the fifth time I'd caught her watching Derek and me. I wasn't sure if she expected us to do something inappropriate, or if she honestly thought that Derek would rip me to pieces in the backseat.

I couldn't escape the loud sigh that escaped my lips. I hated the way Aunt Lauren acted around Derek. I hardly wanted to admit it, even to myself, but Derek had done more for me during this ordeal than she had. In all honesty it was partially her fault that I was in this situation. I hadn't seen my dad in a month and I was on the run from a group of people that probably wanted me dead. Derek was the only good thing that had come out of the situation, but I couldn't fully enjoy his presence due to Aunt Laurens animosity.

I felt Derek nudge my side, silently asking what was wrong. I looked towards the front of the car then back down to my lap. I'd noticed during the lab escapade that Aunt Lauren hardly questioned my decisions; it was like we'd taken two steps back from that. Would Derek start to pull away from me because of her actions? More importantly, I loved my Aunt Lauren, but I didn't know how we'd be able to trust her when she didn't fully trust us.

Derek shifted beside me. I squeezed my eyes preparing to feel my shoulder grow cold as he shifted to the other side of the car, but again he surprised me and put his arm around my shoulder. I glanced up at him from the corner of my eye.

Derek frowned, "Don't worry, it's not what you think," he whispered.

I wanted to ask what he knew that I didn't, but I felt sleep start to invade my mind. I nestled into Derek's shoulder and closed my eyes.

I forced my eyes open as the van came to a stop. I leaned away from Derek to stretch my arms. He was in the exact same position he'd been in when I feel asleep. Eyes firmly pointed toward the window.

"Where are we," I asked no one in particular.

Simon and Tori were still asleep in the second row, and Kit and Aunt Lauren were facing front. I looked up at Derek and repeated the question. He looked down at me and I tensed. Something was wrong, he knew something that he wasn't telling me. I looked out the window. It was late, around 11 and it looked like we were at a…

"Is this a bus station? Why are we here, I thought we were driving to Maine," I asked looking at the occupants of the car.

Tori and Simon began to stir. "Are we there yet?" Tori groggily asked.

"You are driving to Maine," Aunt Lauren finally answered from the front seat. She was reaching down toward her legs; it looked like she was grabbing her bag.

I sat up straighter. "What do you mean 'you are'? You're c-coming with us right?"

"Are you sure about this Lauren," Kit whispered. I don't think he meant for me to hear him.

I leaned up from the seat of the car as if to climb over the seat but Derek's arm held me back. I looked up and him, he was facing the window again. I could tell from the way he wasn't meeting my eyes that he must have known about this.

I pulled out of his arms, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Chloe," he began, but didn't bother to complete the sentence. There was no way out of this and he knew it.

I cut my eyes to Simon and Tori, "Did you two know?" I exclaimed. "Did everyone know and not tell me?"

"Know what?" Tori demanded. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"Chloe let me explain." Aunt Lauren had turned so far around in her seat she might as well have been sitting backward.

I was out of words at this point. Aunt Lauren had just reappeared in my life and now she was leaving me. I know I had been upset about the way she acted around Derek but that didn't mean that I wanted her gone. I'd take back all of my thoughts if she's agree to stay.

"Chloe," Aunt Lauren started. "I don't want to leave you but I have to, for your own safety… and for your dad."

That caught my attention. "What do you mean?"

"Your dad thinks I'm in another country at a medical conference. He's been e-mailing me regularly, keeping me updated on his search for you."

"So, you can just make something else up, you don't have to leave me," I could hear myself starting to become frantic, she was going to leave me and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Chloe in his last e-mail he told me that he was going to broaden the search. He was going to start getting your picture out to news stations in surrounding states and raise the reward. Knowing your dad if he keeps this up he'll have your face in every newspaper around the country. It's not safe for him to find you yet, and if I don't get back there and try to throw him off your trail, he will."

I sat back in my seat. She was right, if my dad was willing to take the search out of state it wouldn't be long before the whole country was looking for me. Despite my new look someone would recognize me eventually. I felt everyone's eyes on me. I could tell that they were waiting to see how I would react.

My eyes watered, and I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate. Derek thread his fingers through mine. I looked up towards him but he was still looking out the window. Derek squeezed my hand signaling that I was to slow down my breathing.

"I have to go Chloe, I'm sorry," Aunt Lauren whispered from up front.

I took a deep breath; I knew my voice was going to shake with the tears clogging my throat, "Can I have a hug."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So I want to say I'm soooooooo sorry to the people who read this story. I know that it's been forever since I've updates. The short version is that first I got Strep (That was fun), then I lost the jump drive. I was freaking out, I knew that there was no way I could rewrite this chapter. In all honesty it's still not quite where I want it yet, so when I update chapter five (which may have to be the last chapter) I was update this chapter as well, but I'll let you know. So again I say that I'm sorry and I hope that you forgive me. Oh and since I just found my jump drive like 3 minutes ago, I haven't edited this chapter the way that I should have, so please forgive me for and really dumb mistakes that you, and let me know so I can fix them. Thanks.

Chapter 4

I didn't cry as much as I thought I would. I pulled my feet onto the seat and wrapped my arms around my legs. I knew this was for the best. I knew that my aunt was trying to protect me, but that didn't make her loss and less of a shock. Like when I had my panic attack Derek didn't offer any soothing words, he knew I was hurting and he allowed me to feel that hurt.

I tuned out Simon and Tori's bickering and turned to Derek.

"I'm not mad you know," I told him. "I understand why you didn't tell me she was leaving."

"Under any other circumstances I would have told you."

"I know." I leaned back into his shoulder and snuggled in for a nap.

Two bathroom stops and a dinner stop later, Kit turned the van onto a dirt road, I was jarred out of my sleep. I twisted to stretch my back and opened my mouth to ask what state we were in, but I was beat to the punch.

"Are we there yet," Simon groggily asked.

"Simon Bea, if you ask that question one more time, you'll be eating lightning bolts for breakfast."

"Would you mind waiting until we've _exited_ the vehicle before you fry my son please?" Kit asked with a smile on his face.

"Yeah if you can keep him quiet that long," Tori replied.

Kit laughed "Alright guys we'll be pulling up to the house in a second, so get ready to load out."

I was bending down to slide on my sneakers when I felt it. I jerked up and looked out the windows, my new bangs falling into my eyes as they scanned the surrounding area. I felt them, they were somewhere close, I just couldn't see them yet. I turned to tell Derek, he looked… tired. I don't think he'd slept the whole trip; he always seemed to be deep in thought, worrying about one thing or another. I didn't want to burden him with my thoughts. I'd been around dead bodies lots of times… and not one of those times ended on a positive note. I looked at Derek again, if I told him, he'd probably be up all night making sure I was okay, but if I didn't tell him he'd get mad and yell at me

We pulled up in front of a house that looked like it had to be three floors, not including the basement and attic. It was huge. We filed out of the van and I knew that I should tell Derek before we made it into the house.

"Derek," I started. He looked down at me, "I don't want you to worry or anything, I'm sure everything's fine, but I wanted to tell you so that you wouldn't be able to yell at me." Goodness, I was rambling.

Derek smirked at me, "What is it Chloe?"

"I just wanted to be the first to tell you that there are bodies somewhere around here."

His face fell a bit. "Are they close?"

"I think they're near the edge of the property. There aren't any ghosts around so I think it'll be alright."

Derek sighed; he seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Let me know if it isn't."

I put my hand in his and smiled, "Don't worry so much, I'm fine." I paused; I wasn't sure how to broach my concerns about his lack of sleep, so I jumped right in. "Are you alright? Did you sleep in the van at all?"

"Not exactly comfortable," he responded as we walked up the drive to the large house in wait.

I frowned.

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

There wasn't much I could say in response so we just followed Kit to the front door. I hadn't realized that Simon and Tori were talking until they stopped. I looked back in order to see Tori go into defensive mode. Her shoulders tensed and she dropped her hands to her side and I could see her fingers twitching. I reached back with the hand that wasn't still attached to Derek's and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," I said drawing her eyes to mine. "We escaped from one organization; if we have to we can escape from another one, but let's not jump the gun."

Tori's fingers stopped twitching but she still remained at the read. She gave me a nod of approval, I looked at Simon, he also appeared a bit on edge but he gave a small smile and two thumbs up. I turned back toward Kit who was eyeing us all wearily.

"Are we ready now?" he asked. Derek nodded and Kit rapped on the door three times. Seconds later the door began to open, I could feel the tension from my friends. Liz appeared at that second. She stood flush to the wall of the house, a giant stick in hand. She'd placed herself in the perfect position to strike out if anything went wrong.

The door pulled open and a man and woman stood in the threshold. For a while no one said anything. I felt Derek's hand tense in mine, I may have heard a crackle or two coming from Tori, and I was pretty sure I saw unnatural fog rolling in from the trees. The woman broke the silence first.

"Kit, it's been too long. You guys must have had a long trip you all look ready to drop, come on in." The woman was about my height with chocolate brown eyes and hair, well the hair was starting to grey a bit, but not much. She had very few wrinkles and looked to be in her late forties. All in all she kind of gave off the persona of someone's favorite aunt. When I looked at the man, I had to blink back a few tears that came to my eyes. He reminded me of a more relaxed version of my dad. I really missed him, but I knew that Aunt Lauren was taking care of him now.

The couple led us into the living room. "Have a seat," the man began, "I'll grab the kids and then we can start the introductions." The man left the room and soon we could hear him walking up a set of stairs calling out.

"Can I get you guys anything, soda, water, juice?" The woman asked, she seemed so sincere, I wanted to like her immediately, but past experiences kept me weary.

"Thank you ma'am but we're alright," Simon perked in with his trademark smile.

"Well aren't you sweet," the woman replied with a 1000 watt smile of her own. Before she could offer us anything else, we could hear three sets of footsteps returning. Again we all tensed up, I guess at this point we all had some strange form of PTSD. The man returned with two kids in tow, a boy and a girl. They looked like twins. They both had jet black curly hair, the boy stood at just under six feet while the girl was maybe 5'6" and they had light blue eyes that were focused on the four of us. My eyes were locked with the girls, it was almost like she was reading me or something, it made me a little nervous to have someone look at me with such intensity, but I heard a small giggle coming from what I assumed was the kitchen. I looked over a saw a small girl about six years old with platinum blonde hair leaning out of the room giggling, I smiled at her only to hear another small voice coming from behind the couch the man and woman were sitting in. A boy who looked to be maybe nine was smiling as well. We waved at me with his small hand and I smiled at him. I zoned back into the conversation that was happening around me in time to hear the introductions.

"Now that we're all here and the children have decided to end their staring contest I'd say it was time for introductions," the man laughed. "I'm Sam Wilson, you guys can call me Sam, this is my wife Mary, and our children Josh and Jessica." Sam laughed at my expression, Josh and Jessica didn't look anything like their parents. "I guess you could say we pulled a Kit. He took his son from the Edison group, and we took our children as well."

"And speaking of children," Mr. Bea interrupted, "I should probably introduce you to mine. This is Tori, Chloe, and my boys Simon and Derek," he said gesturing to us all.

I heard the giggling again, I looked back toward the kitchen, only to see two more children, a red headed girl with freckles with her thumb in her mouth about five, and a boy with brown hair who was the oldest of the children, he looked like he might be around twelve or thirteen. He was standing in the doorway, the only one of the four without a smile on his face. I met his eyes and saw utter confusion, he looked at me like you might if you saw a talking dog.

"Who are you?" he asked. I was second from responding when my eyes took in his clothing. He wasn't wearing any shoes, he was wearing brown breaches and an patched off white peasant shirt. I took a second glance and the girls and they were wearing night shifts and bonnets, it looked like all of the kids had fallen out of the eighteen hundreds.

They were dead, all of them. There were dead children in this house. I felt my heartbeat accelerate, and gave Derek's hand a squeeze. The boy continued to stare at me as his hand rested on the little girls shoulder. I'm sure the quizzical looks on their faces matched my own. I knew that I was over reacting, I'd seen ghosts before, I'd seen things worse than ghosts, but when I looked at those little girls, I couldn't stop the tears from pouring down my eyes. They were so small, they were no more than babies.

"Chloe" I just barley heard Derek, I felt like I was underwater.

"What happened _this _time," from Tori.

"My goodness, does she need anything, water maybe," Mrs. Wilson was already on her way to the kitchen.

"No," Derek said, stopping everyone in their tracks. "I'm going to take her outside for air. Simon, Tori, you guys take our things up to the rooms, we wont be long."

Derek still holding my hand got up and lead me back out the door we had so recently entered. He didn't say anything, we just walked in silence towards the woods. At some point I took the lead and followed the gentle pull in my stomach to the grave yard that resided near the edge of the road. The headstones were so old that the writing was worn and a little hard to read. The grass, weeds, and vines were so overgrown that at first glance one of the smaller headstones could easily be mistaken as a bush. I let go of Derek's hand and walked to the closest grave. I knelt down and removed some of the vines, _Amanda Lynch Born January 3, 1815 Died May 5, 1821_. I felt the tears well up in my eyes again. She was only six years old. I didn't even know her but I couldn't let go of the fact that I was looking at the grave of a small child.

I looked up and saw the little blonde girl from before. She still didn't speak, but she did smile and run to another headstone. She reached behind it and pulled out the nine year old boy who'd hidden behind the couch. The boy looked to be a bit weary of me but he did give me a small smile. I walked over and knelt down in front of them and looked at the small girl.

"Are you Amanda," I asked her? She just giggled a response and buried her face in the boys arm. I looked at the headstone Amanda had lead me to. _James Lynch Born March 16, 1812 Died May 1, 1821._

"That must make you James," I said to the boy, he gave me a slight nod of his head.

"But we still don't know who you are." I turned to see the oldest boy walking toward me. "Why is it that you can see us?"

"My name is Chloe, and I can see you because I was born with the ability to see ghosts."

"What do you want from us, what are you doing here," I didn't necessarily feel threatened by the boy but he did seem to be pretty angry.

"W-we don't want anything. We're j-just staying here for a while. Some people are after us, and we needed somewhere to go. I promise we don't want to hurt you."

"Chloe," it was the first thing Derek had said since we left the house, I knew he hated that he couldn't see or hear anything happening around him.

"It's alright Derek, they're kids, Amanda, James, and…" I looked at the boy waiting for him to fill in the blank.

"Thomas Crosby," he replied.

"And Thomas," I relayed for Derek.

"Well I think we should start to head back it's going to be dark soon."

I looked back at the three children standing side by side. This wasn't right. They should have moved on by now to be with their families, but I didn't know what to do, so I gave them a small smile, turned, and walked away.

R&R please.


	5. Chapter 5

**I feel like a horrible person because this took so long, but I got a new job, then moved out of the state. Life was crazy. No excuse, so I'll just say I'm so sorry. Anyway. This is the final chapter, I'm hoping to turn this story into multiple stories, each new story is a new adventure and problem. I hope none of you are too dissapointed. **

"Lauren, this isn't up for discussion," Derek and I heard Kit say sternly.

"Every decision made is up for discussion as long as my niece is involved," Lauren argued.

"I wonder what Chloe would think about your suggestion, maybe we should go find her and ask. You should go do that Lauren, walk upstairs and tell Chloe that you think that Derek should go spend some time with the Pack, I'm sure she'll really take to the idea."

"I've done the research, I don't think the pack would hurt-."

"No. Derek is my son. I'll decide-"

"Adopted son, it's not the same thing."

"Derek is my son in every way that matters. This doesn't have anything to do with what you think might be good for him. You just don't want him near Chloe. I have news for you, I've done the research as well. Short of Chloe herself telling him to back off, everywhere she goes, he goes. There's nothing you can do about that."

"Fine, but… I know that you're use to making all the decisions, but now that Chloe and I are involved, you have to run these things by me. How do we know that these people are trust worthy? How-" Just as I was leaning in to hear more, Derek grabbed my arm and pulled us up the stairs.

When I was firmly sat on his bed in their room, Derek began to walk from one end of the room to the other grumbling. On normal occasions I would have left him alone, I knew he was irritated and needed to work out what he'd just heard, but I was really impatient.

"Derek, what's wrong?"

"Didn't you just hear them?"

"Well… yeah, but…"

"I hate how they can show up after everything that we've been through and try to take over. It shouldn't be your Aunt that my dad talks to it should be us. And your Aunt wants to send me to the pack, we've finally just escaped that with Andrew, I know my dad said no but-,"

"DEREK, please, stop. Tori's the hysterical one, not you."

Derek let out a sigh and walked over to the bed and sat beside me. He put his head in his hands and let out another breath.

"It's just… what she said. If I did go to the pack, you'd probably have to stay here. It's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself. It's just that… you have a really bad habit of winding up in dangerous situations. What's going to happen if I'm not there to help you? Simon means well but-,"

Then I did something that I never thought I'd have the courage. I took Derek's head in my hands and pressed my lips to his. For a second he sat there, shocked into submission, but slowly his hands came to rest on my waits, and he pulled me closer. I breathed in his scent and forgot about the argument downstairs, I forgot about the Edison group, I forgot about the other genetically altered kids, and I forgot about every problem I could ever fear to experience. When we were forced to break apart, I kept my head against his. Our lips only a hairs breath apart.

"I will never let anyone take you away from me," I whispered to him.

I saw the relief fill his eyes. He pressed his lips to mine once more before pulling away from me just in time for the door to fly open.

"Derek, where have you been?" Simon followed closely by Tori and shockingly the twins Josh and Jessica.

Derek stood ready for a fight…as always.

"Sit down," Tori said tossing my backpack to me. "You need to listen to what they have to say."

"Why," Derek growled, hands balling into fists at his side.

"Because they're psychic, and if they're right then we have to get out of here… now."

Derek relaxed his hands but the distrust was still radiating from him.

"I know how much time you've spent waiting for your fathers return," Josh began still standing in the doorway, "and although he'll never intentionally harm you, he's leading you into danger."

"What are you talking about," Derek demanded going into the offensive.

"Your father trusts too easily. He is blinded his loyalty. You should know that better than most. He trusted his friend Andrew why almost ended the lives of all of you," Jessica stated.

"He's leaving here soon, and he's taking you somewhere that… well… let's just say somewhere that you won't want to be," Josh finished for her.

"That's fine; we'll just tell them what you said. We'll change their minds," I stated, knowing in the back of my mind that it would never work.

"No," Josh said, confirming my thoughts. "You have to leave, it's the only way. When the time comes to rejoin them, you will know. But right now they are set on making choices that are right for them, not you."

Then without another word, the twins turned and walked away.

"So," Simon began looking at Derek, "what do we do?"

"How do we know they're telling the truth? If the twins are right at we stay with your dad and we wind up right back where we started, I'm going to be royally pissed," Tori said.

"Tori, please," I told her, everyone was looking at Derek to make a decision, myself included. I hated the amount of pressure he was always under.

Derek stood silently. I could see his brain working out the pros and cons of both options. After a few minutes he reached down and picked up the backpack that Simon had brought in with him. He threw the pack over his shoulder and turned to face all of us.

Derek turned to Simon, "Are you sure you have everything packed?"

"Yeah, and I went through the kitchen and packed some food too."

"Good," Derek turned to me. "Are you going to be okay with this? I know how close you are to your Aunt and I'd hate for-,"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"Alright then," Derek placed his hand on the doorknob. He looked back at the three of us, "Let's go."

The End


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